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THE 1880 AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW

NORTHEAST U.S.A. (May 4, 1880) – Today the A.P.B.L. enters its tenth season of play, with champions Alleghany receiving the honor of hosting the first game as they play against Shamrock at Recreation Park shortly after lunchtime in Pittsburgh.

Last season, Alleghany took a most surprising title, winning the Colonial Conference by six games before beating Knickerbocker 4-2 in the Founders Cup. They did this with a roster featuring a 2B who didn’t play baseball in 1878, a 3B who hit better than he had in four years, a RF who hit .334 after spending the previous three seasons as a backup, and a #1, Tom Ricks, who finished with a record of 27-12 and had his best professional season at the age of 40.

This season, the Writers Pool expects Alleghany to remain in the hunt for another pennant, but for St. John’s to move back atop the Colonial Conference, as their All-Star Greenhorns from last season now have a full year of experience and they signed the best Greenhorn P available during the winter. Shamrock and Niagara are expected to round out the top half of the standings, this after the quartet of Alleghany, Niagara, Shamrock, & St. John’s were the Colonial’s top four in 1878 & ’79.

Knickerbocker is expected to take their third consecutive Colonial Conference pennant, but the Writers Pool believes that will only happen after a fierce battle in which five teams expected to finish within ten games of first place. The powerful offenses of Excelsior, Gotham, & Kings County all present themselves as the largest threats to another Knick pennant. Quaker State should remain competitive due to quality work in the field, while fellow Philadelphians Tiger Social Club could easily play the spoiler role thanks to their extremely talented Middle Infield.

And with that, it’s time to play ball!

PROJECTED STANDINGS & ANALYSIS

COLONIAL CONFERENCE

• #1: St. John’s at 54-36 (+120 RD)
• #2: Alleghany at 49-41 (+80 RD)
• #3: Shamrock at 47-43 (+35 RD)
• #4: Niagara at 47-43 (+15 RD)
• #5: Port Jersey at 46-44 (+10 RD)
• #6: Mass. Bay at 45-45 (EVEN RD)
• #7: Newark at 40-50 (-40 RD)
• #8: Flour City at 37-53 (-125 RD)

St. John’s comes into the season ranked #1 in the league at four positions: C (Joseph Nailey), 1B (Konrad Jensen), LF (Joseph Evans), & RF (Nelson Townsend), and they’re ranked in the top half of the league everywhere except Shortstop. Now that Nalley and All-Star 3B Eamonn Higgins have a year behind them, this looks like the most complete team in the league.

Champions Alleghany lost John Meier, but they’ve moved Peter Hildebrand to LF and signed 8x All-Star Cormack Alexander to take over 1B. Their big issue is that they have three new P’s for Opening Day, with two of the three were imported from the N.B.B.O. Shamrock let Donal Hagan leave, and Rudolph Aldridge has been moved back into the Pitching Duo to replace him. Otherwise, the lineup remains the same. Niagara brought the whole lineup back, and now that they have both the reigning B.o.t.Y. (William Norman) and the league’s best CF (Charles Barrett) they could be more than just competitive.

Pt. Jersey’s young core is a year older, and the Writers Pool thinks that will lift them over .500 as 3B Samuel Eastman has B.o.t.Y. potential. Mass. Bay should again be just okay because they failed to address their 3B & OF issues over the winter. Newark should continue to get a little bit better after upgrading 1B by signing William Trowbridge. Flour City has issues everywhere except 3B & CF after the retirement of James Goodman. It’s likely to be another painful year in Rochester.

METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE

• #1: Knickerbocker at 52-38 (+45 RD)
• #2: Gotham at 49-41 (+20 RD)
• #3: Kings County at 48-42 (+10 RD)
• #4: Excelsior at 47-43 (+5 RD)
• #5: Quaker State at 46-44 (+5 RD)
• #6: Tiger Social Club at 43-47 (-25 RD)
• #7: Orange at 38-52 (-70 RD)
• #8: American at 36-54 (-75 RD)

Knick brought the whole lineup back, but they also decided to sign Everett Schreiber to man C after Cale Jones had a rough Sophomore A.P.B.L. season. On paper, they are favorites to take their third straight Metropolitan Conference pennant.

Gotham returns everyone in their talented lineup, although CF Alex Hammond will miss the first two weeks due to a shoulder injury. Also, 23-year-old Everett Huggard looks ready to take over the #1 spot and could be an All-Star. The Kings Co. Batsmen are back, and they’ve brought 2x All-Star Paul Caldwell in from the N.B.B.O. after he found his old form last year in Vermont. Excelsior has plenty of quality bats in a lineup built around Elijah Hill & Troy Oberst, but once again fielding is likely to be an issue that keeps them from the top of the standings.

Quaker St. has weak bats at a few positions, but quality fielding at nearly every position should keep them afloat. Tiger S.C. has a great Middle Infield pairing now that 2B Griffin Gray has matured, but they have issues at C, 1B, & CF that will likely keep them out of contention. Orange signed 5x All-Star John Meier away from the champs, recruited #1 Greenhorn prospect Walter Carrow to play SS, and brought back 2B Charles Whitehead even though there was a 50/50 chance he would leave. However, they also lost long-time veterans Schreiber & Will Chaffin. In spite of that mixed bag, things are looking up just a bit. American is now in transition mode after losing both James Burke and 8x All-Star 2B Peter Boyce, and they’ll begin the season with at least three Greenhorns amongst their group of regulars.

AWARD FAVORITES

Batsman of the Year: Samuel Eastman (age 24, 3B, Pt. Jersey)
Pitcher of the Year: Robert Goodman (age 26, Knickerbocker)
Fielder of the Year: Martin Prince (age 30, SS, Tiger S.C.)
Greenhorn of the Year: Walter Carrow (age 24, SS, Orange)

TEAM OF THE YEAR FAVORITES

P: Robert Goodman (KNI, age 26, 4.5/5.0*), C: Matthew Williams (QS, age 32, 4.0/4.0*), 1B: Konrad Jensen (StJ, age 40, 4.5/4.5*), 2B: Babe Johnson (GOT, age 34, 4.5/4.5*), 3B: Samuel Eastman (PtJ, age 24, 4.0/4.5*), SS: Gerald Strong (ALL, age 33, 3.5/3.5*), OF: Charles Barrett (NIA, age 28, 4.5/4.5*), OF: Joseph Evans (StJ, age 27, 4.5/4.5*), OF: Jonathan Cobb (ORA, age 24, 4.0/4.0*)

TOP SENIOR ROSTER GREENHORNS (by position)

P1: William Hoy (StJ, age 29, 4.0/4.0*), P2: Cornelius Jackson (AME, age 28, 3.0/3.0*), C: Isaac Rosenberg (TIG, age 24, 2/5.2/5*), 1B: Samuel Burke (EXC, age 23, 2.0/2.5*), 2B: Robert Miller (AME, age 23, 2.5/3.0*), 3B: Matthew King (age 22, StJ, 2.5/3.0*), SS: Walter Carrow (ORA, age 24, 3.5/4.0*), OF: George Oman (TIG, age 25, 3.0/3.0*), OF: Matthew Small (FC, age 28, 3.0/3.0*), OF: Harold Heffron (AME, age 24, 2.5/3.0*)

TOP RESERVE TEAM PROSPECTS (by position)

P1: John Martin (NEW, age 21, 1.5/3.0*), P2: Michael Walicki (NIA, age 24, 2.0/3.0*), C: John Bachant (NIA, age 22, 2.0/3.0*), 1B: Thomas Hecht (GOT, age 22, 2.0/2.5*), 2B: Daniel Buchanan (ALL, age 23, 2.0/2.5*), 3B: Charles Deinert (AME, age 23, 2.0/2.5*), SS: Nico Atsidakos (KNI, age 25, 2.0/2.0*), OF: Carl DeWulf (StJ, age 23, 2.5/3.0*), OF: Virgil Berry (NIA, age 22, 2.0/3.0*), OF: Domenico Patriarco (KC, age 24, 2.5/2.5*)

OFFSEASON LINEUP SIGNINGS

ALLEGHANY

• P: Nicholas Banfield (14-18, 4.38 ERA, 76 K, 3.3 WAR) from Orange on Dec. 8th
• P: William McMahon (age 30, 4.0/4.0*) from Bedford (N.B.B.O.) for $2,850 on Nov. 7th.
• P: Earl Quinn (age 38, 3.0/3.0*) from Maryland (N.B.B.O.) on Nov. 9th.
• 1B: Cormack Alexander (.350, .880 OPS, 95 RBI, 3.3 WAR) from Knick on Jan. 6th

AMERICAN

• 2B: Robert Miller (Greenhorn, age 23, 2.5/3.0*) on Nov. 1st.
• RF: Harold Heffron (age 24, 2.5/3.0*) from Hilltop (N.B.B.O.) for $1,200 on Dec. 19th

EXCELSIOR

• P: Jonathan Reitz (age 25, 2.5/2.5*) from Camden & Amboy (C.B.C.) for $1,000 on Jan. 29th
• RF: Henry Arnold (age 25, 2.5/3.0*) from Marathon (N.B.B.O.) for $1,400 on Jan. 21st

FLOUR CITY

• P: Willie Gray (2-4, 2.86 ERA, 17 K, 78.2 IP) from Alleghany on Dec. 22nd
• P: William Johannessen (8-3, 3.18 ERA, 7 K, 107.2 IP) from Kings Co. on Nov. 20th
• P: Harper Cundiff (age 35, 2.5/2.5*) from Star (N.B.B.O.) on Nov. 26th
• 2B: Andrew LeClair (age 26, 2.5/2.5*) from Eagle (N.B.B.O.) for $1,100 on Feb. 21st
• LF: Matthew Small (Greenhorn, age 28, 3.0/3.0*) on Oct. 30th.

GOTHAM

• P: James Dressman (13-20, 3.09 ERA, 40 K, 3.8 WAR) from Pt. Jersey on Dec. 9th

KINGS COUNTY

• P: Paul Caldwell (age 34, 3.0/3.0*) from Green Mtn. (N.B.B.O.) on Nov. 17th
• P: Washington Kihlstedt (16-30, 4.68 ERA, 90 K, 3.3 WAR) from Newark on Dec. 4th

KNICKERBOCKER

• C: Everett Schreiber (.282, .690 OPS, 57 RBI, 2.0 WAR) from Orange on Nov. 7th

MASSACHUSETTS BAY

• P: Theobold Knapp (Greenhorn, age 29, 3.0/3.0*) on Nov. 23rd

NEWARK

• P: Jonathan Clegg (age 27, 2.5/2.5*) from Pt. Richmond (P.C.B.L.) for $1,200 on Dec. 23rd
• 1B: William Trowbridge (.361, 26 RBI, 0.9 WAR, 144 AB) from Alleghany on Nov. 12th

NIAGARA

• P: Harold Easton (Ind. Ball, age 24, 3.0/3.0*) on Mar. 10th

ORANGE

• P: Thomas Cook (Greenhorn, age 30, 2.5/2.5*) on Dec. 6th
• C: Harold Scholl (Ind. Ball, age 25, 2.0/2.0*) on Dec. 18th
• SS: Walter Carrow (Greenhorn, age 24, 3.5/4.0*) on Oct. 30th
• LF: John Meier (.323, 76 RBI, 51 SB, 2.9 WAR) from Alleghany on Nov. 9th

PORT JERSEY

• P: Allan Bird (1-3, 2.75 ERA, 4 K, 39.1 IP) from Gotham on Dec. 2nd
• P: Everton McLean (1-1, 5.62 ERA, 11 K, 73.2 IP) from Orange on Nov. 26th
• 1B: Gil Cappelletti (.316, .739 OPS, 45 RBI, 1.8 WAR) from Excelsior on Feb. 18th

QUAKER STATE

• None

SHAMROCK

• P: Edgar Bradley (1-3, 3.47 ERA, 10 K, 46.2 IP) from Pt. Jersey on Nov. 11th

SAINT JOHN’S

• P: Donal Hagan (23-17, 2.69 ERA, 71 K, 4.4 WAR) from Shamrock on Dec. 23rd
• P: William Hoy (Greenhorn, age 26, 4.0/4.0*) on Dec. 2nd

TIGER

• RF: George Oman (age 25, 3.0/3.0*) from Schuylkill (P.C.B.L.) for $1,400 on Feb. 6th